Saturday, December 6, 2008

We got a small pomegranate tree this last week. It was planned originally to be purchased in February, but I could not pass saving $37 in S&H...so I went for it.

Judging by its size it might be old enough to give us some fruit next year & its red tubular flowers will make a nice addition to the hummingbird buffet. Pomegranates are very nutritious and the tree itself is low maintenance, has high landscape value, excellent wind tolerance, drought, cold & even flood tolerance.

The actual cultivar of this tree was not listed in my Florida Fruiting plants book...but if you are looking to buy one, the best cultivars for Central Florida are 'Vietnam,' 'Plantation Sweet,' & 'Big Red.' The book also lists 'Fleishman,' Purpleseed,' 'Spanish Ruby,' & 'Christine' as promising newer cultivars for our area.

The only catch of growing this tree in Florida is that it does not love wet summers...so if you plant one, be sure to remember not to water it during that time as our regular summer rains should really be plenty for it. Oh the other thing that I find a bit of a negative (but really, not too bad) is that from the time flowers bloom, it may take up to 7 months for the fruit to be ripe...which, for impatient gardeners like me, is not a great thing.

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HOLA!

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"I am a pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet & viewed it appreciatively instead of skeptically & dictatorially."

E. B. White

WHERE?Central Florida. Orlando area. Zone 9B-ish.

WHO?Two people crazy about all things outdoorsy.One doing most of the planting, writing and pic taking.The other lovingly supporting this typer's addiction in every conceivable way.

Plants I will not love again

**To see pics and additional info go to the top left of the blog and type the plant's name in the "search blog" box**

♠ Bolivian Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia). Lovely IF you have the space for a gigantic shrub.♠ Mexican Petunia (Ruellia brittoniana)...weedy!♠ White Buttercup- Pic posted on June 6. Lovely but becomes very weedy in the end.♠ Spider plant...in pots it is okay, but when planted on the ground...oh boy, talk about weedy!♠ Potato vine, the regular fast spreading ground cover sold in stores. Impossible to ever get rid of!

SEEDS FOR TRADE

The list is always changing...if you'd like seeds for any of the plants you see here just ask, chances are I either have some now or will gather some soon.Just post a comment and that will trigger an email to me. Blogger does not automatically trigger an email to you with my response so you'd have to come back and check it...a little work, I know, but so worth it, no? ☺

COOL BOOKS

The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt

The Myth of Mental Illness, Thomas S. Szasz

Zen & The Art of Motorcycle maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig

Wine & War, Don & Petie Kladstrup

The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran

From Beirut to Jerusalem, Thomas Friedman

Questioning the Millennium, Stephen Jay Gould

The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould

Siddharta, Hermann Hesse

The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong

The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson

Neither Here Nor There, Bill Bryson

The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson

How the Mind Works, Steven Pinker

The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker

Toxic Psychiatry, Breggin

Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore

Modern Man in Search of a Soul, C.G. Jung

The Journey to the East, Hermann Hesse

How Proust Can Change Your Life, Alain de Botton

Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton

On Love, Alain de Botton

Kiss & Tell, Alain de Botton

The Romantic Movement, Alain de Botton

The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton

Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer

On Being Certain-Believing You Are Right Even When You Are Not, Robert A. Burton